MACEDONIA Muharem Jahja1 1 Muslim Populations the Most Recent Official Census

MACEDONIA Muharem Jahja1 1 Muslim Populations The most recent official census (2002) recorded 660,492 Muslims (mainly Sunnis), or around 31% of the total population (2,022,547). Of these, 509,083 (or 77%) were ethnic Albanians, 77,959 (12%) Turks, 53,879 Roma, and 17,018 Bosniaks.2 Albanians, who speak a differ- ent language from Macedonian, which is a Slavic language, started to become Muslims with the arrival of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans in the fourteenth century. Turks are the descendants of immigrants from Ottoman times. By 2009, the number of Muslims in Macedo- nia has probably increased due to a high fertility rate (around 2.5%). Conversions are relatively rare and may number between 20 and 30 in total since the fall of Communism.3 In the official census, Macedo- nian-speaking Muslims, as they are officially labelled (also informally known as Torbeshi, Pomaks or Gorani, and increasingly likely to call themselves Turks or Albanians), are classified under the ‘other’ cat- egory of the census and are not included among the country’s Mus- lims, but they constitute a considerable number (around 20,000), so the total number of Muslims in 2009 is probably over 700,000. Since the break up of Ottoman Empire, the Muslims of Macedo- nia have undergone three main periods of transformation. The initial one, between 1911 and 1991, can be categorised as decline. It saw a decrease in religious freedom for Muslims. The second period between 1991 and 2001 can be characterised as stagnation due to difficulties for the Muslims to find their rightful place in the society and in their 1 Muharem Jahja is a researcher at the Institute for Cultural and Spiritual Heritage of Albanians, Skopje, and a lecturer in the Department for Oriental Studies at the State University of Tetovo. He holds a BA in Islamic Law and an MA in Islamic History. His research and writings relate to the sociology and history of Islam and Albanians in the Balkan region, specifically in Macedonia. 2 The State Statistical Office of the Republic of Macedonia, Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Macedonia, 2002 (Skopje: State Statistical Office, May 2005). 3 Anecdotal data from the author’s personal experience. 366 muharem jahja relations with the state. The third period post-2001 has all the features of post-conflict with a number of important reforms in the religious sector, including elevation of the position of non-majority Muslims with that of majority Orthodox Christians. The number of Muslims practising on a daily basis might amount to 200,000 and another 300,000 might pray on Fridays and fast in Rama- dan.4 Almost two thirds of Macedonia’s Muslims are concentrated in the north-western part of the country, in the capital city, Skopje, the second largest city, Tetovo, and in the districts surrounding these cities and others such as Gostivar, Debar, Kicevo, Kumanovo, Resne, Struga, and Ohrid. The rest live in the southern and eastern parts of the country in scattered communities. 2 Islam and the State Macedonia’s Constitution describes it as a secular republic with no state religion, though Orthodox Christians constitute the majority of the population, 66% according to the 2002 census, including the ethnic Macedonians, Serbs, and Vlachs who are Orthodox Christians. The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and provides for the right to express one’s faith freely and publicly, individually or with others. The Commission for Relations with Religious Communities and Reli- gious Groups (Komisija za odnosi so verskite zaednici i religiozni grupi, http://www.kovz.gov.mk), with a director appointed by the govern- ment, regulates the legal aspects of the position of the religious communities and religious groups, and relations between the state and the religious communities and groups. The Commission has the status of an autonomous state institution. Islam is recognised by the Constitution as one of the five main faiths and is officially represented by the Islamic Religious Community in the Republic of Macedonia (Islamska Verska Zaednica na Republika Makedonija, IRCM).5 The state does not fund religious communities, and all costs related to maintenance of mosques and other communal buildings, as well as the salaries of religious leaders, are paid from private and voluntary contributions of the members of the community 4 Interview with representatives of the IRCM in Macedonia, Skopje, January 2009. 5 The Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, Article 19. .

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